


(Don't fear) the Flower

by Marexian



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, No Proofreading We Die Like Men, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22248574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marexian/pseuds/Marexian
Summary: There are myriad of curses with many ways of resolving them. However, some are lost in time and memory and are known by very few.Hanahaki disease - a disease that blooms from a curse full of jealousy towards a person and there are but two ways of dissolving it.Geralt has to make a choice to save Dandelion's life else it will wither away like the bloodied petals that he coughs up.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 9
Kudos: 321





	(Don't fear) the Flower

**Author's Note:**

> This was prompted by someone on Twitter and sadly I cannot remember their @ but if they are reading this... Hooe you enjoy!

Curses come in many shapes and forms. Some of them are cast upon the target by accident even or by mere chance. Others come from far away lands or are lost in time. However, the one that Dandelion suffered from was so uncommon, it had lost its name and is known by very few.

Not everyone understood Dandelion love for each and every despite him showering them with love and affection, yet never asking for it back. Some of the people were jealous of the attention he provided to others. And others cursed him under their breath. One of the whispers proved to be dangerous.

A lethal yet graceful death was approaching him and he knew naught of it. He moved on with his life as usual, however sometimes, it was as if there was a knot in his stomach. A knot that soon would bloom and make him spew flowers into his palms. He could taste each and every petal touching his tongue before they would get soaked in blood and then spit it all out in secret. It took Dandelion a while to catch on the cause for his sickness and when it all clicked he begun hating Destiny for it.

Yellow flowers bloomed up his throat whenever he expressed even the tiniest amount of affection towards Geralt. And he sure wished to do more, yearning to express his wholehearted love but it hurt. It hurt because they were so far apart, it hurt because the roots and thorns would grow even tighter around his chest every time he even thought of even being attached to the witcher.

He was forced to become distant with his best friend and it pained Dandelion even more so. Even so, he still made sure to watch over Geralt with his own eyes or through others’. And whenever they had to speak, he would make it brief.

And Geralt caught onto that. He wasn’t sure of the cause but the shift in bard’s behavior was alarming enough.

The two were talking over some ale when Dandelion was beginning to feel unwell. Dandelion struggled to hide his pained face behind his tankard; there was no escaping those golden eyes. Geralt paused to take a better look at the bard’s face and the sigh that he let out made the witcher break the silence.

“What’s wrong?” a simple question that made Dandelion’s heart sink deep into the void.

Blue eyes widened at the question and then then man quickly had another go at the ale, trying to drown the pain away. But the huff he let out afterwards only expressed how much in pain he was.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just that maybe someone gave me the nastiest tankard of ale and I’m just feeling bitter because I want this to be worth every coin of mine.” Dandelion’s voice still carried a light tune as he disregarded any concerns.

“So the other day it was the same? And the other time when you chose tea over anything?” Geralt did not back out. He was not going to turn the blind eye to the issue.

“Can’t a man be picky?”

“Not a man like you.”

Geralt did not keep his eyes off Dandelion who was taking sharp inhales in. It wasn’t just the bard who was paying attention to the myriads of tiniest details the ones he loved expressed. The witcher kept everything about his loved ones close to his heart as well and he would curse himself the most ought something happen to them, that’s why he was clinging into his friend. Given this gesture, the bard begun clinging into hope that maybe he should show his love.  
And that’s when the flowers begun to bloom.  
A cough escaped the younger one as he clutched his chest. First it was a small drop of blood that seeped through his lips. Then more dripped down on the wooden table.

“I’m… Alright.” Dandelion gritted his teeth.

He looked down at the table where his blood has splattered. Being agitated he swiped away the blood from his face with the back of his hand and then diverted his gaze from the witcher.

“Keep lying to yourself and die slowly and painfully or tell me what is wrong.” Geralt’s hands on the table clenched as his expression grew more serious. “Choose your poison.”

“Aren’t you funny today, Geralt.” The bard coughed out. He had to cover his mouth as he felt a taste of that disgusting petal at his throat. Soon enough he was practically hitting his head against the table and coughing the bloomed flowers out.

The witcher waited no more and ignoring the whispers and questions from others, dragged Dandelion away from the scene, practically carrying him up the stairs into a more private space so he could investigate. 

“Let me go—I beg of you.” The bard pleaded as the words were interrupted with coughs. “You can’t do anything about this.”

“Shut up and sit down.” A rough voice commanded the bard to stay still on a chair that he was sat on. Not like he had a choice when the pain was overwhelming every other sense of his.

“I’ll do anything for you to go away.” It hurt to say that in ever sense but it was all out of love and the notion was reinforced by him spewing out bloodied flower petals.

Geralt stood in front of Dandelion. He simply wished for his best friend to be alright so they could keep on bantering like they used to instead of meeting every other month out of an obligation. A sharp breath was taken in before he uttered out a ‘no’. He then crouched down and looked at the pale face of the other’s. 

“Open your mouth.” He commanded as his hand reached for the blood stained face. His thumb deliberately pushed down Dandelion’s jaw down.

The bard gave up and just let his gaze drift away into the room, focusing on some random objects. Under very different circumstances he wouldn’t have minded so much being inspected like so but now his eyes were filling with tears as his insides were cut with dozens of thorns. In the end, he couldn’t close his mouth no matter how much he tried due to the flowers being continuously blooming. His delicate hands were clinging into his shirt to keep himself together somehow.

It was never this bad. Most likely because of the contact they shared now.

“Blood seems to be coming from internal wounds. Infection is starting to manifest thanks to the flowers withering quickly. These dandelions seem to have roots deep down there…” the white haired man spoke to himself, trying to link the clues to anything he knew but nothing came to his mind. “A curse uncommon to this land.”

“Told you can’t do anything—”

“I’m taking you to Yen. Maybe she will know anything.”

“Anything but that.” Dandelion feared for that. He knew that if anyone would be able to link the activation of the curse to his feelings he would find no way out of it, or at worst – lose the relationship he has with Geralt. 

At that point witcher suspected that his friend knows more than he lead to believe on. He had to get that information somehow. Knowing that he probably won’t go far, he backed off with hesitance; Geralt’s hand brushed off the blood running down Dandelion’s jaw and then went to lean against a wall opposite of the other.

“Just tell me one thing: am I making you suffer?” it was a tough question to ask, making a lump get stuck at his throat afterwards.

No answer was provided immediately. Shallow breaths from the bard filled the room along with coughs there and there. Gradually, Dandelion begun to calm down, although, he still felt dizzy. When finally he stopped seeing stars in his eyes, he took a deep breath in and ran his hands through his hair nervously. 

“…You’re related to all of this, yes.” Dandelion answered timidly. Lies would get him nowhere. “I wish I knew the exact cause. I would have done something about it! But now, whenever I think of you— No, let’s not draw any assumptions. How can I blame you when you would never cause me harm? You surely know better than to do that! I mean—I can be annoying, probably, but… or am I hoping too much?”

“I’d never. You know me too well, Dandelion.”

Geralt lost himself in a thought, trying to dig deep in his mind. Maybe a fable or an old woman’s story, or something would resurface and shed light on this. Still shaky breathing he heard from the bard was the motivation that did not let him give up. He took a solid moment but finally his eyes sparked with revelation.

Which also bore fear into his heart.

“Do you remember when or maybe even how you got cursed? It had to be someone who was jealous of you, that is for certain.” The older man inquired. A part of removing the curse was knowing its source.

“How would I know? I don’t count every man, woman or a child that might have been angry with me once or twice.”

“You know exactly what I mean. Love affairs. You seem to get yourself into those often.”

“…Might have been someone.” The bard let out a sigh and let his shoulders fall. “What difference does it make?”

“In this case – not much, sadly. But I know what is killing you inside. Literally.”

Dandelion swallowed a lump in his throat, leaving him with the most unpleasant taste of them all from all the blood and petals that remained in his mouth. He shook his head not being too tolerant of the feeling. And then the fear set in. Back of his mind wanted to exchange the emotion for the vomit-inducing taste but there was no helping it.

A sweat drop ran down beneath the brown strands of hair. His eyes were racing around Geralt’s features, definitely not waiting for what he would say next. For sure, he was going to be called out but then what? Any resolution or was he going to die young with thorns at his sides?

“So… what now? Will I’ll have to chug down one of your gross potions? Or maybe I’ll have to go through a Trial of Flowers or something?” 

“No.” Geralt’s lip twitched. “But there are two guaranteed ways of setting you free of the curse.” He made a pause, thinking how to phrase it better but the bard only encouraged him with gestures. “One is for you to undergo a surgery—”

“Oh, thank the gods it’s so simple. We can start arranging things then.” Dandelion cut in.

“You might not like the result. Now let me finish talking. It is said that undergoing a surgery and getting the roots removed is effective, but there’s a side effect – you wouldn’t feel the same.”

The bard clutched his chest as it begun to tighten then looked to the floor. He didn’t want a bad end like that even if it meant him suffering. 

“…and the other option?”

“The one that you are tied with must return your feelings.” Geralt sounded as emotionless as he could. He couldn’t let his friend know that this path was difficult to choose.

The bard nodded in acknowledgement. His hands clasped together on his lap, thumbs trying to scrape the dried blood from earlier from one another. He looked up with some semblance of hope in his eyes but then he knew too well that his passion would not get returned.

“You know what you must do, Geralt. But you can also leave me be like so. It’s alright.”

“I’m guessing you were cursed for a while already. There’s only so much time before you’ll suffocate because of those flowers.”

“How poetic. A death worthy of a bard such as myself, don’t you think?” the bard showed a smile even if his eyes were tired.

“Damn it, Dandelion!” witcher’s voice rose in irritation. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“You had enough on your shoulders as it is.”

“I am not watching you die. Not in front of me.”

The younger one blinked fast at the other one. When he got yelled at, shivers ran down his spine. But at the same time he was too tired to take any guesses. He would let his life be adrift the wave if Destiny, wherever it would take him. 

While Dandelion was having regretful thoughts, Geralt sprung himself from the wall and stepped closer to the other. His battle ridden hands ran down bard’s cheek, caressing it with gentle motion. Dandelion became aware of what was happening because a weird electrifying sensation was sent through his skin. Blue eyes looked up at the standing man in confusion. But then his own hand instinctively landed on witcher’s one and he allowed himself to submerge himself in the feeling. He didn’t care if this was just an act or not – he would bask himself in such attention provided from the man he loved with everything he had.

“Even if you are acting – don’t stop. If this won’t work, at least I will die with the fondest memory I’ll ever have a pleasure of remembering.” Dandelion murmured.

Geralt did not give an answer and just allowed his actions to speak. He made a bold move of sitting down on Dandelion’s lap straddling him. Both of his hands were cupping bard’s cheeks in a gentle hold. While his skin wasn’t as warm as the other’s the pale face soon coloured in a bright shade of red. Blue eyes pried open to meet the gaze that was greeting him. The tension soon was broken with a slow kiss between them. The bard struggled to keep up at the start due to shortage of breath but soon his lungs begun to feel lighter; a feeling he had almost forgotten. The witcher seemed to be into the act, even if it only seemed like one to him. But Destiny has decided that his act was out of love and that way it freed Dandelion out of his impeding doom.

The bard wasn’t going to let this chance slip away and kept going. Their intoxicated breaths mixed together and neither of them showed any intention of stopping. The witcher wanted to keep on teasing his loved by nibbling on his lips but Dandelion was not having that. The younger one was eager to slip his tongue in and he surely got his way. Geralt had to back out for a bit to catch his breath. 

“I didn’t think you’d be so feisty.” He commented as he watched Dandelion give back a sly grin.

“You’re yet to see anything.”

“Is that an invitation?” 

“What do you think, my witcher?”

Geralt slid his hands down Dandelion’s neck, making it more exposed. When his lips touched the bard’s jawline, he shivered once more. Bard’s hands wrapped around the other’s shoulder’s and digits clung into the linen shirt. The trail of kisses went a bit lower, as much as their positions allowed Geralt to, making sure that each and every counted. He felt unreasonably greedy and wished to leave hickeys all over the fair skin, no matter the blood trails from earlier struggles. 

“Geralt, please—“ Dandelion tried holding his voice low, there were people nearby. “Not here.”

The white beard brushed against the other’s skin one last time and then he faced Dandelion again.

“Should we find some other place?”

“As much as I would love to—” Dandelion dry-coughed. “I still feel sore. And I do not think I am ready for more today.”

“Hm…” witcher understood the other’s request albeit he was bit upset about it. “Want me to help you with anything then?”

“Oh, yea, definitely. How am I supposed to hide all of the hickeys you left?!” he wasn’t upset but he didn’t want to get looks today.

Geralt looked down at the bare neck in front of him, some spots had begun to redden. He could only grin back about that.

“I know that smile and it says that you ain’t going to do anything, is that it?”

“Should I..?” 

“…no. It serves a reminder. Or two.”

“I’ll be sure to give you more reminders in the future then.”

Dandelion only shyly chuckled at that, given the implications. But he welcomed themand wass looking forward to their further development.

“By all means. But now I’d love to get some rest. Got to make it to the bath house before that, though.”

“I’ll be waiting in the room upstairs then.” Geralt planted one last peck on the lips and then let Dandelion go.

**Author's Note:**

> And as always, I kinda bait people into thinking that there could be porn but here I am. I was thinking of writing an omake where they take the other route out of the situation but for now have this.


End file.
